Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Purchases Shares of 107 SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in SBA Communications Co. (NASDAQ:SBAC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 107 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in SBA Communications by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,368,209 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,763,691,000 after purchasing an additional 88,339 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of SBA Communications by 13.4% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,973,867 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $387,470,000 after buying an additional 233,179 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in SBA Communications by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,190,288 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $233,654,000 after buying an additional 159,433 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in SBA Communications by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 986,487 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $213,773,000 after buying an additional 33,507 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in SBA Communications by 34.7% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 792,147 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $155,498,000 after acquiring an additional 203,938 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.35% of the company’s stock.

SBA Communications Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of SBAC opened at $218.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $237.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.01. SBA Communications Co. has a 52 week low of $183.64 and a 52 week high of $258.76.

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The technology company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.17 by ($0.77). The company had revenue of $667.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.29 million. SBA Communications had a negative return on equity of 13.13% and a net margin of 25.76%. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SBA Communications Co. will post 12.56 EPS for the current year.

SBA Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. SBA Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Donald Day sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.86, for a total transaction of $364,290.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,213,814.28. This trade represents a 23.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director George R. Krouse, Jr. sold 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.58, for a total value of $71,363.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,775,084.72. This trade represents a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on SBAC. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on SBA Communications from $228.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on SBA Communications from $236.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of SBA Communications from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of SBA Communications from $232.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.23.

About SBA Communications

SBA Communications Corporation is a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure including towers, buildings, rooftops, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells. With a portfolio of more than 39,000 communications sites throughout the Americas, Africa and in Asia, SBA is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol SBAC.